Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Inked in flame ❯ Chapter the...:Blue Requiem ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Okay, it’s time for one of the very, very, very last chapters of Inked In Flame. I hope you enjoy the ride!

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Blue Requiem

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The party left the house, marching resolutely towards the centre of Station Square. No one really had anything to say. Raze was at the point of the group, with Sonic, Knuckles, Jecht, and Shadow following his footsteps. Behind them were Amy, Ai and Hadrian, and behind them, at the very back, were Tails and Cream. Cream had insisted on being there, at least until the danger started. They marched on, attracting strange looks from passers-by. The still noon air was congested with car fumes, and a slick sense of importance led the group on. As they reached one of Station Square’s many roads, they saw Chaotix Detective Agency waiting for them. Silently, without noise, fuss or word, Chaotix joined the march. This was their fight, too. The world didn’t seem to realise that soon would come a fight that could decide the fate of millions. The world carried on as normal, giving nothing for the strange, desperate plight of the group. No one noticed Cream and Tails peeling silently away from the group, and heading towards a different area of town. Soon, the group came to the central hub of Station Square- the train station. Sonic hadn’t noticed it before, but this area of Station Square had undergone a good deal of constructive work since when he had been on his adventures here. Where there had been a small traffic island in the middle of the road, there was now a resplendent roundabout, with palm trees dotted here and there around the perimeter. Twinkle Park’s famous lift had been broken for quite a while now. The park itself was closed down after it had been forced to offer ‘Cute couples go free!’ five days a week because it wasn’t getting any customers. The glass sheltered walkways were left exposed from where the elements and vandals had broken the glass and no-one had bothered to replace it. The sign was hanging crooked, and rust enveloped the entire building. Amy looked at it, and felt a small pang. Raze, however, saw nothing of the rusted shell of Twinkle Park, because his gaze was fixated on the roundabout. There, taking shade under one of the palm trees, was Arid. Raze jumped over the road, clearing a passing car, and landed near the roundabout. The others followed, knowing that this was not the time to interrupt.
“So, Raze. You showed up. With the Chaos Emeralds as well, I see. Very good.” Arid smiled. Raze didn’t return the smile, but took a step towards the old fox.
“What? Don’t want to talk? I’m hurt.” Arid mocked.
“No, you’re not. But you will be, Arid. You will be.” Raze growled menacingly.
“Haha…All that trash talk of yours hasn’t intimidated me yet. Why do you still insist on wasting your time with it?” Arid joked.
“Maybe for the same reason I’m wasting my time on you. Force of habit.” Raze said, perhaps a little more truthfully than he cared to admit.
“Well, let’s get down to business, shall we? As I promised, I and you will now…ah, what was the expression? Oh yes, ‘settle the score’. And, as an added bonus, I’ll let your friends play with my dear friend, Rogue.” Arid said conversationally, making it quite plain that he wasn’t the least bit scared.
“Rogue…Are you sure his bones haven’t turned to dust by now? He was getting on a bit when I last saw him.” Raze mocked, softly. The others breathed a collective sigh of relief. If their enemy was old, then maybe they wouldn’t have such a hard time.
“Raze, Rogue’s been around since the middle ages. I don’t think six years is very much compared to that.” Arid laughed.
“The middle ages…?” Hadrian echoed, his suspicions flaring.
“Hmph…Where is the old fart, anyway?” Raze asked.
“He’ll show up soon. You can count on that. Well, shall we?” Arid said, motioning to the decaying ruins of Twinkle Park.
“Yes, let’s.” Raze said, bounding off. Arid followed, both foxes jumping up through holes in the glass walkways. Within seconds, they had disappeared inside the rusting building. The others walked to the roundabout.
“So, how will we know who this Rogue fellow is?” Knuckles asked, throwing a couple of punches at thin air.
“I think it’ll be pretty easy to tell…” Hadrian said, ominously.
“Well, I just hope Raze knows what he’s doing. Arid’s pretty damn tough.” Ai said.
“Tch. Have a little faith in the overgrown furball. If not, have faith in me. There’s very little that the Shadow Rifle can’t handle.” Shadow said, smirking.
While the others talked, Sonic stared at his shoes. Then, knowing he might need it, he took out Eleanor’s mace, which he had cunningly hidden behind his spines. He looked at it, knowing that it was the last thing he had to remember her by. As he looked, the chain joining the ball to the handle started jiggling. For a moment, he thought he was imagining things. But then, it happened again. Then, he heard a noise which he took to be a bad sign.
“Hey…Can you guys hear a rumbling sound” Sonic asked.

In another area of the city, Soots and Rouge were interrogating a good friend of theirs- Dr. Eggman.
“Look, I know you said it was urgent, but couldn’t you wait until I got out of my jammies before kidnapping me?” the doctor asked. For reasons known only to himself, he had been wandering around Station Square Casino in a pink, flowery nightgown asking passers-by if they had any model ships he could borrow.
“No, you retard. Look, we wanna know what happened to the Master Emerald.” Rouge said, quickly losing patience with the Doctor’s disturbing shenanigans.
“Oh, that’s easy! Thank you for the compliment, by the way. My good friend, Arid, took it from Knuckles by use of a thief.” the Doctor rambled.
“Yeah, I know that! I was the one who stole it! What did he do with it?” Soots asked.
“Uh…I think he said that he shattered it, and sent one piece of it to every corner of the globe. Of course, the globe doesn’t have corners, so I think that he may have been using a metaphor for saying that he dropped it down the back of the sofa and can’t find it again…” Eggman rambled.
“Well, at least we know what happened to it…” Soots muttered.
“Look, you aren’t making any sense, Eggman! Let’s start with a mental exercise. Repeat after me; She sells sea shells by the sea shore.” Rouge said, trying with all her might to get some meaningful info about specific whereabouts of the Emerald.
“Who sells sea shells?”
“She sells sea shells, Eggman.”
“Where?”
“At the sea shore!”
“No, I mean the girl selling sea shells.”
“There isn’t a girl selling sea shells.”
“But you said ‘She sells sea shells’!”
“It’s a tongue twister!”
“She’s a she, not an it!”
“She doesn’t exist!”
“But you said she existed! She must be at the seaside!”
“Why? What makes you think that this imaginary girl is at the seaside?”
“Because she’s selling sea shells by the sea shore!”
“ARRRGHHH!”

No sooner were the two foxes inside the building than the fighting began. They went in through a wall. The walls had been doused in severely dubious chemicals by Eggman a year before in the great rust bomb incident, which explained the park’s rapid descent into a rusty shack. As it was, the walls were more rust than metal and were no match for Raze and Arid’s blows. Although the foxes were waging battle, it wasn’t in earnest; both of them knew that they needed a better battleground that rusted corridors. They arrived, throwing the odd kick, punch or slash with razor sharp claws as they went, at a huge, rotten castle. Both decided that it would be an excellent strategic point, and raced to climb it. Arid, favouring caution in case Raze attacked before he could climb to the top, dug his claws into the corroding metal, and slowly, but surely, moved upwards. Seeing this, Raze decided to jump up on one of the spires. As he landed on the spire, it gave way, the column holding it up crumpling under the impact and weight of the fox. Jumping swiftly away, Raze headed for the main castle, where Arid was climbing. As he headed for the old fox, Raze configured his body into a flying dropkick missile. He hit the old fox dead on, but once again forgot to reckon for the weakness in the metal. Both foxes went crashing straight through the layer of rust and metal was the castle, coming out on the other side. Fortunately, they landed in an artificial lake. Less fortunately, the water was stagnant, toxically so; there were small carcasses of rotting fish in the bottoms of the pool. Both foxes sprung form the water, and once again began the game of hunting each other. Smashing through several more walls, both realised the incredible potential of this place as a battleground. There were weapons all around, disorienting corridors, hiding places- all the makings of a great mob fight. But, this wasn’t a mob fight. This was one-on-one, and as personal as it got. Then, they happened upon a car park, of sorts. There were small, metal vehicles around, almost like rotting bumper cars. A smile flickered on Raze’s face. A wide-open space, with an extremely interactive environment, and a decided time limit before the entire structure collapsed onto their heads. It was the perfect site for a death match.

Everyone did hear the rumbling. It carried on for at least five minutes before reaching a massive crescendo. Then, there was a minor earthquake as the sound started to shake the earth beneath them. Residents of Station Square hurried out of their cars, anticipating the felling of buildings. Understandably, they had become rather cautious ever since Chaos had flooded their town. Then, in a roaring explosion of noise, dirt and palm trees, a huge, scaled mass burst through the centre of the roundabout. It flew ten feet, maybe even twenty feet in the air, then landed on the road. It was shaped like a huge ball, black in colour, and possessing the hardest looking scales the team had ever seen. Slowly, the ball rotated, and rolled almost gracefully towards the hole where the roundabout had been. Then, silently, the ball seemed to uncurl. A pair of stumpy, scaled legs hit the ground. A long, whip-like tail thrashed against the ground. Two great, leathery wings slowly unfurled, until they were as long as tennis courts. A long, scaled neck rose up, until it was half as tall as the tallest building. Two small arms, with thick, razor sharp spikes jutting out of them peeled away from the massive body. The beast opened it’s mouth, and issued a blazing jet of fire into the sky. It turned around, and a smile played upon its snake-like lips. Teeth like daggers, dripping with purple saliva, jutted out of the mouth. It was a dragon.

Raze and Arid stared at each other. Neither was out of breath. They stood at either end of the car park, each looking at the other, ready to spring into action if the other moved so much as an inch.
“First things first, my boy. Give me my emeralds.” Arid said menacingly.
“Hmph. You can have the grey one. The red one is lost, though.” Raze answered, tossing Arid the grey emerald.
“I know where it is. But, I’ll deal with it after I deal with you.” Arid said simply.
“You’re going through an awful lot of trouble to get all seven of these little baubles. What would you do with that kind of power? Take over the world? Destroy anyone who annoyed you? Rebuild the Arridian Guild?” Raze asked.
“No, my dear Raze. I would save us.” the old fox stated ominously.
“Us?” Raze asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Me. You. Us.” Arid replied.
“What are you babbling about now? Has senility finally set in?” Raze said, laughing.
“You may laugh”, the old fox said gravely, “but you have no idea of the importance of my mission.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What does this so-called mission of yours have to do with me?”
“Because. My mission is to save the bloodline of the dire foxes.”
“Okay, that means your mission has something to do with me. But what do dire foxes have to do with you?” Raze asked, his interest piqued.
“Raze, Raze, Raze…Surely you didn’t think you were the only one with dire fox blood running through your veins? True, you are the last dire fox, but…”
“What? Start making sense, you stupid old man.”
“My mother was a dire fox. I’m not fully dire, like you, but I have the blood running in my veins.” the old fox said grandly.
“I don’t really see how those Chaos Emeralds are going to save the dire fox bloodline, though…” Raze said.
“You see, Raze, the dire foxes have been endangered for a long time. Only recently did someone decide to do something about it. Your father, an advanced mage, spoke with your mother, and they both agreed that something needed to be done. So, when you were born, the sealed a powerful spell within you.”
“I have a spell sealed within me? Do you really expect me to believe that crap?”
“Well, I certainly believe it. The spell within you is stored in a charge of negative energy- the same type that the Chaos Emeralds are so good at absorbing. That was why I used Chaos Bond to seal the red Chaos Emerald within you. Right now, the red Chaos Emerald is within your body, but after I defeat you, I’ll be able to use the magnet like powers of the other Chaos Emeralds to extract it.” the old fox explained.
“And what does this oh-so-powerful spell do?” Raze asked cynically.
“It has the power to create a microbe. Well, not one microbe, but many of them. Inside an animal, the microbe acts like a virus, latching onto a cell and hijacking the DNA. However, instead of forcing the cell to produce hundreds of thousands of microbes straight away, the microbe merely changes the DNA of the cell, then goes off to infect other cells, leaving the cell to divide again. However, the change to the cell’s DNA is dramatic. The virus turns the DNA into a direct replica of that of a dire fox.” Arid explained, while Raze listened incredulously.
“Yeah, but won’t the immune system fight off the microbe?” Raze asked, determined to try and pick a hole in this stupid plan of Arid’s.
“Yes. And, only 100 microbes will be spawned. That’s more than enough, considering the strength of the dire fox race, to save the bloodline. However, the microbe can’t be passed on, and doesn’t make more of itself. So, the immune system will fry it.” Arid conceded.
“So why bother, if you know it isn’t going to work?” Raze asked. He was now beginning to get rather bored of Arid’s screwball ambitions.
“Because. If I weaken the immune system of the world, then the world can’t fight off the virus. This is the best part of my plan. You see, dire foxes had their peak in the ice age. They evolved there, and, in fact, you will find that you yourself would be perfectly capable of living in an ice age now. Plus, ice ages weaken the immune system dramatically.”
“You want to create another ice age?!? You really are nuts!” Raze shouted.
“That’s why I need the seven Chaos Emeralds, instead of just the red one which carries the spell. Using the power and energy of the Chaos Emeralds, I will upset the world’s climate, bringing another ice age to the world, and saving the dire fox race!” the old fox exclaimed dramatically.
“You’re crazy. I don’t really care about all these delusions you put yourself under. All I care about is the fact that you killed my parents, my friends and even my friends’ parents. We have a score to settle, and it’s time to settle it!” Raze shouted, drawing his claws.
“Well, I guess there’s no point wasting time, now that my plan is nearing fruition. Fine, give me your best shot!” the old fox shouted back, leaping towards Raze.

“Everybody, listen up!” Hadrian shouted to the rest of the group. “That’s a fully mature dragon! It could destroy this city, never mind us! Don’t get hit!”
“Wow. I would have never figured that out. If we don’t get hit, we don’t get hurt. Nice theorem, Einstein.” Shadow said, ducking a red hot jet of concentrated flame. The dragon, whom everyone had guessed was named Rogue, was hovering just above the hole that used to be the roundabout, its wings beating slowly and powerfully as it fought off the group. It arched its whip-like tail, and struck just where Ai had been standing, shattering the road and sending asphalt flying through the air. Ai had jumped aside at the last second, almost getting hit by the shockwave that was created by the impact. Shadow jumped up, far higher than any of the others could manage, and emptied the Shadow Rifle directly into the dragon’s scale face. The dragon, however, didn’t even bat an eyelid, but blew another red hot gust of fire at Shadow, who was all but helpless in midair, unable to dodge the searing blast. The flame was almost upon him when Shadow found himself being bonked on the head by a large rock. The impact knocked him out of the way of the blast, and he landed on the balls of his feet, ready to sprint off in case the dragon decided that it really did want deep fried hedgehog for lunch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Amy clutching a rock and hefting her hammer like a baseball bat. Sonic seemed lost in the battle, ducking and diving to avoid the blows that the dragon was raining upon all the party members, but seemingly unable to muster the resolve for a homing attack.
“Guys! Let me handle this!” Hadrian shouted into the fray.
“Hey, just because he’s your species doesn’t mean that you get him all to yourself!” Knuckles roared back furiously, catching a rock that had once been part of the road.
“You don’t understand! The scales on that dragon will deflect almost any blow! The only things that will penetrate those scales are dragon fire, dragon thunder, dragon ice, dragon poison and sheer, incredible brute force!” Hadrian shouted back, dodging a jet of fiery death that had been hurled his way.
“Geez. Where’s Raze when you need him?” Jecht laughed. He was laughing because the dragon was weak against the one thing that he had in spades. Brute force.
Knuckles hurled the rock he was holding with all the force he could muster, hitting the dragon directly on the head, squashing its long neck like an accordion. This coincided with a rock, hit by the now all-star baseball player Amy, which rocketed into the dragon’s kidney area. This brought a change of tact for the dragon. If it was going to get hit by objects hit from far away, then it was time to get up close and personal. It lunged forward, extending its neck, with its cavernous jaws wide open. Ai, slower than the others despite her long legs, was standing directly in the path of the dragon’s jaws. She screamed.

The two foxes clashed violently in midair with a sickening crack. Raze’s shoulder connected with Arid’s head, knocking the old fox to the ground. The old fox rolled quickly, and was back on his feet in less than half a second, rending the very air with his slashing claws as he rose. Raze had landed perfectly, and kept back, not pressing home his attack.
“I see you still remember the techniques, then?” Arid asked, dusting himself off momentarily.
“Shut up, you antiquated tosser.” Raze said, rushing forwards.
“Hmph. I bet you haven’t told your friends about your dirty little secret, have you?” Arid asked, calmly blocking Raze’s blows.
“Shut up!” Raze shouted, smashing home a vicious blow which sent Arid momentarily reeling.
“Tell me, Raze!” Arid shouted, recovering his balance almost immediately. “Why do you think you’re better than me? We’re just the same, you and I!”
“Don’t bring me down to your level, you murderer!” Raze shouted, hammering another blow home.
“Murderer? Me? And this is coming from the same person who burst into my headquarters yesterday and started killing everyone in my organisation?” Arid said, reeling again.
“SHUT UP!” Raze shouted, using all his might to smash Arid down. In the back of his mind, he noticed that Arid wasn’t blocking very well. What was going on? The old fox was better than this…
“What? Can’t take the fact that, despite all your efforts, all your anger, and all your strength, you are just like me? I told you, Raze. One day, you will become me. That was why I picked you, so long ago…” Arid shouted, turning and kicking Raze hard. The kick was nowhere near enough to stop a furious Raze. However, it spun him around just enough to make his next blow miss, which would have been a crushing blow to Arid’s skull.
“SHUT UP!” Raze shouted in a pure rage now.
Arid smiled. Raze tried once again to hit him, but again missed, and lost his balance completely. Seeing his chance, Arid took the chance to really hit Raze. Drawing his leg vertical so his foot was above his head, he then brought it crashing down onto the back of Raze’s skull. Reeling from the vicious blow, the blue fox collapsed. Arid pressed his advantage, slashing again and again with razor sharp claws, missing only by fractions as Raze used all his survival instincts to dodge the blows.
“Hahaha! Where has your anger gotten you, Raze? You can’t possibly win!” Arid shouted maniacally, making yet another slash at Raze.
Arid’s words struck home in Raze’s mind. What was he doing? He had allowed his anger to take hold of him, just as Arid had wanted! In that instance, deep rooted barriers in Raze’s psyche were destroyed. Of course! Why hadn’t he seen it before? Arid had dire fox blood, but wasn’t a full dire fox. He didn’t have a dire fox’s life span. He was getting old. Too old to fight properly. His muscles were weakening, reactions slowing, aim faltering. He had beaten Ivory, a powerful warrior. A warrior taught by Arid. Ivory had been angry when she fought Arid. Arid had beaten Demi-Super Sonic. Sonic was angry when they fought. Arid was only saved by the grey Chaos Emerald. When Raze and Sonic had combined forces, Arid had been forced to run. Arid was no longer running at full potential…
It all slipped into place. Arid’s skill was waning. He no longer had the ability to ravage his opponents physically as he had done in his youth. He couldn’t reverse the effect of time. To replace waning physical superiority, he had had to change tactics. He couldn’t beat his opponents physically, so he had to beat them psychologically. He purposefully made his opponents too angry to fight properly! As soon as this occurred to Raze, he smiled. He was still angry, but a sense of triumph surged through him. Seeing his opportunity, he whipped his legs around, tripping Arid. He rose to his feet quickly, and, before the old fox hit the ground, wrapped his long, powerful tail around Arid’s neck. He lifted the old fox up, so he could see his face. It was wracked in agony. It didn’t surprise Raze. After all, those old bones were a little too creaky to take such knocks any more… He kept his grip on Arid’s throat for a second or two more, steadily crushing Arid’s wind pipe. Then, he relaxed his grip slightly. Arid almost gave a sigh of relief, but his wind pipe was now too damaged to breathe properly, never mind to waste breath. Raze looked at him for a second more, savouring the victory. Then, he smashed his fist into Arid’s face, sending the old fox sprawling onto the ground. Slowly, Arid rose, coughing and spluttering. Raze merely smiled, as he enjoyed the sensation of picking Arid’s teeth out of his gauntlet.
“L…Lucky shot, Raze…It w-won’t happen again, I promise you…” the old fox panted.
“Pity, that. You’d need an awful lot of luck to beat me, wouldn’t you?” Raze sneered.
“What are you babbling about, boy? Did I concuss you or something?” Arid laughed.
“No, of course not. You just told me I was going to win.” Raze smiled.
“W…What?” Arid shouted, enraged.
“You have to make me angry to win. In fact, you can’t win against anyone without making them angry. That tells me that you no longer have the skill, speed or strength to fight them properly. In short, you’ve told me that I am faster than you. That I am stronger than you. That I am more skilful than you. And that you stand no chance!”

“Whoa. Are you absolutely sure we should check it out? Absolutely, positively, definitely sure?” Soots asked, the trademark note of cowardice returning to his voice.
“Look, for the tenth time, I am absolutely sure that I want to see what that big rumbling, crashing sound was!” Rouge shouted, almost kicking the bird in her irritation.
“Yeah, I’m just saying, what with all the strange stuff that’s been going on, it might be a little dangerous…” the bird insisted.
“Yeah, and I’m just saying that I don’t care! I wanna know what that noise was!” Rouge shouted, actually kicking the bird this time.
“OWWW! Well, why do I have to come?” Soots asked.
“Because I can use you as a shield if something goes wrong. At least that way, you’ll have been some use to somebody!” Rouge said, growing more and more annoyed.
“Hey, I could take offence to that remark!” Soots said indignantly.
At this point, Rouge snapped. Not seeing the point of any further argument, she just picked up the bird and drop-kicked him off of the rooftop they were standing on, before lying resolutely towards the noise. In accordance with her plan, Soots flew behind her, yelling at her to wait up. Mentally, she congratulated herself for the amount of power she had over men, and flew with a smile.

Ai screamed wildly, completely bereft of what to do. Desperately, she emptied the clip of Shadow’s pistol into the dragon’s yawning mouth. The bullets merely disappeared down the dragon’s throat, and the jaws kept on towards her. They were almost upon her, about to consume her, when Jecht stepped in. He flung himself at the dragon’s open mouth, using all his strength to clamp it shut. Immediately, the dragon started to thrash around, trying to dislodge the tiger. It tried desperately to breath flames upon him, sending clouds of soot and smoke through the corners of its mouth, blackening the tiger’s face. Espio, moving quickly despite the fact that his leg was still rather tender, rushed towards Ai and dragged her out of range. At the same moment, Vector, having received an airlift from Charmy, pounced upon the dragon’s left wing, pinning it to the dragon’s body. Hadrian spread his scaly wings and flew above the dragon, sending searing jets of fame down upon the dragon’s other wing. The dragon gave a muffled roar as its wings started to give way. Forced to land, it balanced itself on the edges of the roundabout pit, still thrashing its neck and wings to dislodge its attackers. Sonic and Shadow looked at each other, and grinned. Simultaneously, they curled up, and started spinning. Meanwhile, Amy and Knuckles continued to hail rocks at high speed upon the scaled menace. Then, exactly the same time, Sonic and Shadow burst forward, aiming directly at the dragon’s stumpy legs. Shadow hit his mark, knocking the dragon back a step. At the moment of impact, Sonic swung the mace, and heard something crack within the dragon’s leg. He sped off, and saw scales falling from the wound as he moved. The dragon, bereft of balance and with one wing and one leg injured, teetered over the pit tantalisingly. However, at the second it looked as if it was going to fall, it used its scaly tail to right itself, smashing its uninjured foot back into the ground. Then, it swung its neck like a lasso, sending Jecht spiralling off to the ground. However, as the tiger came loose, so did one of the dragon’s massive teeth; it rocketed downwards, and stuck in the ground like a huge, yellow dagger. Ai approached it wonderingly. Could it be used as a weapon?
“Ai, don’t touch that tooth! This is an adult dragon, so that tooth will be venomous!” Hadrian shouted. He took his eyes off the dragon for a second to look at Ai, but realised his mistake too late. He turned back just in time to see the whip-like tail arcing through the air towards him. It made sickening impact, dropping him like a dead fly.
“Hadrian! You’ll pay for that, you scaly inbred!” Jecht shouted up, his voice tinted with rage. In response, the dragon once more reared up, and thrust its open jaws towards him, trying to devour him. Jecht dodged to the side, and grabbed the dragons scaly neck. It was as thick as a tree trunk in his arms. He smiled, knowing the perfect next move. The dragon thrashed its neck, lifting its body slightly higher with its legs. Jecht smiled again, then heaved with all his might. Slowly, but surely, he felt the dragon’s grip on the ground loosening, then- the dragon was airborne! Using his weight and the dragon’s in unison, he tossed the dragon over his shoulder. It hit the ground with a sickening crunch, crushing its uninjured wing underneath it. Then, everything was still.

Raze grinned, resuming battle in earnest. Now that he knew he could win, he saw opportunities, holes in Arid’s defences that just hadn’t been there before. He smashed Arid again and again. The old fox was trying to block, but no longer had the speed or strength to match Raze on his own level. Still, he was a dangerous enemy.
“What’s up, Arid? Running on empty?” Raze mocked softly.
“I’ll show you what I can do, fool!” Arid yelled, surging forward.
Surprised, Raze was forced back onto the defensive. Arid pressed his advantage, making Raze step back each time he attacked. Raze gulped as he felt his feet hit the wall. Arid may be old, but he was still dangerous! Arid leant backwards, ready to execute his notorious double-stab technique. Aimed for Raze’s gut, he pushed his claws forwards with both hands, aiming to jam them into the blue fox’s gut. Looking around him, Raze spied a weapon. He picked up on of the rusted bumper carts, and held it as a shield over his stomach. Arid’s claws went straight trough it, then stopped, barely an inch from Raze’s gut. Raze smiled, then tore the bumper cart in two- with Arid’s claws still sticking through it. Arid withdrew them just before they snapped, but was off balance. Seeing his chance, Raze smashed the two sides of the cart around Arid’s head like a pair of cymbals. Reeling from the blow, Arid fell to the ground. As he lay there, completely defenceless, a twinge of pity came over Raze. Arid was the only person besides him who knew his past, and understood him. He waited, at the ready, until Arid got up. The old fox’s cloak, which, by mere miracle, had stayed on throughout the battle, was now ragged and frayed at the edges. It was a little sad, Raze thought, as he looked at what had once been his mightiest foe.
“What’s up, Raze? Why don’t you just kill me now, and get it over with?” Arid panted. Even he saw that he had no chance.
“I don’t need to.”
Raze moved closer with alarming speed, grabbing Arid’s right arm in a vice grip. He slowly extended one, and only one, of his long dangerous claws. The old fox barely had the strength left to protest. Choosing his spot carefully, Raze inserted the claw into Arid’s arm quickly, turned it, then withdrew. The old fox howled in pain, thrashing about. Raze’s grip remained unbroken, however, and he picked another spot on the same arm, and followed the same process of piercing, twisting and withdrawing his claw. Arid howled, not with pain this time, but with realisation of what Raze had done. He tried, fleetingly, to kick the fox away with his left leg. As quick as a flash, Raze caught Arid’s leg. He help Arid’s leg up by the back of the knee, and then drove his elbow into Arid’s calf with all the speed and power of a jet car. A sickening smash was heard, and Raze knew the fight was over. Arid dropped to his right knee. His right arm was dangling like a lump of plastering, and his left calf had been shattered.
“W…What have you done to me? Why didn’t you kill me?” Arid whispered, no longer able to speak properly.
“I told you. I don’t need to. I’ve disabled you instead. I’ve shattered your calf and cut all the tendons in your right arm. It’ll take years for you to learn to fight left-handed, and you’ll never operate at 100% of your fighting potential again. In fact, you’ll be lucky to operate at 20%. In the meanwhile, you can’t even walk unaided. You’re no threat to anyone anymore.”
“B-but…You…you can’t do this…!”
“I just did.” Raze answered gravely. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to see what my allies made of Rogue. I’ll be back in a day or two…If I remember.” Raze laughed, walking away.

Sonic groaned silently. That was it? That was the final result of his revenge for the death of his love? Fighting an enemy that had nothing to do with it, while another person fought her killer? What kind of justice was this?
“Hey, have you guys noticed that Cream and Tails aren’t here?” Charmy asked.
“Hmm…Now that you mention it, they weren’t here for the entire fight. I could understand Cream ducking out. But I didn’t really have Prower down as a coward…” Shadow mused.
“The little traitor! We could have used his help. I’m having a word with the pipsqueak when we get home…” Jecht cursed angrily.
Everyone stayed silent for a moment. Even though they had won their battle, there was a sombre air about them.
“I wonder if Raze and Arid have finished yet….” Ai mumbled. She felt angry at herself. All through the fight, she had been no help. In fact, she had only been a burden. Jecht had nearly died to save her skin.
“Tch. The fur ball had better get out here soon, or else I’m gonna go and see what’s taking him so long.” Shadow said, standing up.
“We all know you’re just worried, Shadow. I know that you have a sensitive side…” purred Amy.
“Excuse me, but I’m going to vomit if you follow that sentence any further, Ms. Rose.” Vector laughed.
“Hey! My shaddy-kins does so have a sensitive side!” Amy said, her voice shrilly.
“Shaddy-kins? I’ve gotta tell Raze about that one.” Ai laughed.
“That’s if he won. If. He was in more danger than we were.” Shadow said, not helping the situation.
“Ssssss…Oh, I beg to differ.”
The group looked around sharply. There, standing in front of them, was the dragon they had thought was incapacitated.
“Y…you can SPEAK?” Jecht asked incredulously.
“Yes, Jecht. I’m not the only dragon in the entire world who can speak.” Hadrian said sarcastically.
“Yourrr fight has only jusst begun.” the black dragon threatened in its serpentine voice. Then, without warning, it spread its huge, leathery wings, and took off. The wind from the take off was o bad, the party were blown backwards as the dragon got up to speed. It flew high in the air, its feet level with the tops of the buildings. Not wasting a second, Hadrian followed it, spreading his own wings.
“Thisss youngling thinkss that he can beat me? Hahahahahahahahahahahahah….”
The dragon’s laughter rang out above the party’s heads. There was nothing they could do.

“Hahahahahahahahahahaha….” came a laugh from the old fox. Raze stopped. His mind told him that the old fox couldn’t possibly hurt anyone anymore. But his gut told him to be ready. He drew his claws.
“What’s so funny?” Raze asked, every syllable drenched in menace.
“You. I’ve known you for so long, Raze…” Arid laughed, gasping for breath.
“Delirium. A perfectly normal reaction to your injuries.” Raze said clinically.
“I knew, you see. When you were born, Raze, you were born pure. Without the splinter of evil in your soul which hails every great evil. I knew you could never finish me off.” Arid panted.
“I have finished you off, Arid. I haven’t killed you, but your life is over.” Raze said, resuming the walk away.
“Hahahahahhahaha….How naïve. I’ve known you since the day you were born. I’ve watched you every day of your life. You really think that I would be foolish enough to enter I fight which I thought I would lose?”
Raze stopped. It occurred to him that with his back to Arid, he was immensely vulnerable. He turned quickly to see the old fox. He was revolted at what he saw.
The old fox’s chest was expanding rapidly. His uninjured arm was rippling with muscles, and had grown to twice the size it should have been. His injured arm had suddenly snapped towards his body. Arid’s laughter changed; it became a deep, booming cackle, somehow too loud for the fox’s body. Then, the injured arm rippled and burst. The skin tore open, and Raze could see the muscles flexing, and the tendons re-attaching themselves. Then, the skin re-knitted, leaving no trace of any injury. Arid’s legs sprung to twice their length and thickness, the injured one popping into place as if nothing had happened. It was grotesque to watch. As the final changes happened, Raze looked at his enemy in horror. Arid was over three times as tall as he had been, and was now bulging with so many muscles that Raze wondered how the rusted floor was supporting his weight. But, more disturbing than that was the fact that none off it seemed to match up. The chest was too big for the legs. One arm was bigger than the other. The head was tiny in comparison to the rest of the body. It was like looking at a bad drawing.
Arid’s tattered cloak hung around his neck like a scarf, now far too small for a beast of his size. When he was smaller, the cloak had covered three scars which ran down the centre of his chest. Raze recognized them as the scars that he himself had given to Arid six years ago. Now, stretched by Arid’s growth, the were open again, bleeding copiously. Arid didn’t seem to care.
“Arid…What have you done to yourself?” Raze asked, a trickle of fear creeping into his voice.
“HAHahAHHAhahaahaahaAhhhhAHHh…” Arid laughed, his voice twisting and contorting.
“Geez…I guess I was right. You really are a monster…” Raze said to himself sadly.
“Ha…I’vE alWays BeeN lIke ThIs, rAZe. I aM ThE mOst poWerFul bReEd oF foX tHAt ExiSTs. I Am A CroSS bEtwEEn tHE stRONGest oF tHe WolVes, AnD tHe mOSt poWerFuL oF thE foXEs. I aM aRID, WeRe-FoX!” Arid shouted, delirious, banging his gigantic fists on the floor.
“No. You’re just a mess. A mess, and a freak. I’ll put you out of your misery!” Raze shouted.
He rushed towards the newly gigantic Arid. The old fox was now too strong to take on properly. But, he knew Arid’s weak spot. The scars. They were an open wound, and if he could hit them hard enough, maybe he could put Arid in enough pain to force him to revert to his normal form.
“aWw. liTTle rAZe sTilL ThiNks hE cAN wIn.” Arid taunted in that broken, twisted voice. Raze ignored him, drawing closer at high speed. Arid was still standing there, cackling away, showing that he had no real intention of defending himself. Raze jumped, aiming carefully, slashed.
“Hah!” he shouted triumphantly as his claws made their mark. He had aimed perfectly, and his claws had stuck in the old scars. Then, smiling, Raze pulled them down, following the scars right to the end, until-
Snap.
Raze completed the motion. But something was wrong. He looked down at his claws. They weren’t there.

Hadrian groaned. There was no way he could beat Rogue in the air. He flew around Rogue, spitting jets of flame at the gigantic dragon. His smaller size allowed for greater speed and agility in the air, meaning he was far harder to hit, but his attacks did little damage. It was like a firefly trying to take on an eagle. Down below, the others were trying to find some way they could help.
“Come on! How can we possibly get up there?” Vector yelled in frustration.
“You can’t. I can.” Knuckles replied, latching onto the nearest building and proceding the climb up it. The dragons were battling above the ocean, just a few hundred metres from the beach. Far enough to glide, and even if he missed, he could swim back with little difficulty.
“That’s alright for some. But without a Chaos Emerald, I can’t get up there.” Shadow muttered. This was one battle he was just going to have to sit out.
Ai sat on the ground dejectedly. Just as they had thought the battle was over, they found out that there was even more. Amy patted her on the back, looking out at the two fighting dragons. Sonic stood away from the others, straining imaginary muscles, trying to get the same power he had earlier. To become Demi-Super Sonic. But how? No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t manage it. Jecht stretched, and tried to wipe some of the soot off his face. Most of his fur was singed, and his martial arts uniform was burnt in places.
“That’s it! I’m going after them!” Charmy yelled, breaking the silence.
“No, you’re not. You can’t fight a dragon, Charmy. If you got hit, you’d die. If you didn’t die, you’d fall into the ocean. And last time I check, bees have a hard time swimming.” Espio retorted.
Up above, Knuckles readied himself. His vision blurred for a second, then he shook it off. Hadrian needed him. His friends needed him. There was no way he could let them down. He ran. The rooftop was quite a long one, affording him a great run up. He ran, the edge of the rooftop drawing ever closer. He took a deep breath. Then, without any warning, his vision blurred. His legs collapsed just as he went over the edge. He fell, spiralling out of control. This was it. He was going to crack his head open on the concrete below, and die. Not a very brave way to go, really. His vision blurred again as he sped up in midair. It stayed blurred this time, and he felt himself tumbling, out of control. Then, a sudden yank on his tail, and it all stopped. What was going on? He saw a blurred shape above him, and felt the beating of…wings?
“Geez, Knucklehead, I know you aren’t happy about using the Master Emerald, but that’s no reason to commit suicide!” came a familiar voice from above him.
“Rouge!” he smiled.
“You need to lay off the cakes, Knux. You weigh as much as a sack of bricks. You’re about as smart as one, too!” Rouge laughed. Soots hovered above them, careful of getting too close. After all, he remembered what had happened the last time he had met the Sonic Team.
They landed, Rouge taking care to ‘accidentally’ bang Knuckles’ head on the building a couple of times as they descended.
Over the bay, Hadrian was growing weary. Several times, he had almost been hit by the fiery jets issuing from Rogue’s mouth. Now, he was running on empty. But, he just couldn’t let Rogue go. If he did, it only took one fly-by for Rogue to have toasted half the city. He just had to win. He only had one chance- ground Rogue, and hope that his friends could finish it. Wearily, he climbed in altitude, rising to above Rogues back. Taking a deep breath, he blew a searing jet of flame at Rogue’s wing. But, it missed. Already, he felt the loss of strength that the jet had cost him. He didn’t have any energy left to waste. Then, Rogue turned and rose quickly. Too tired to react quickly, Hadrian was a sitting duck. The black dragon took a deep breath, and for a second, Hadrian saw a smile playing upon his scaly lips. Wearily, he tried to climb, to get above the trajectory of the flames. But, it was too late.
“FIRE CONCUSSION MISSLES!”
Suddenly, with no warning, Rogue’s left wing was enveloped by a vast explosion. Looking to where the voice had come from, he saw a plane, blue in colour, with a fox in the pilot’s seat and a rabbit hugging him.
“Yes! Auto-targeting system is A-OK! I’ll have to thank Gerald for his help once we’re done. Locking on!” Tails shouted triumphantly.
“Sssss….We’ll see who winsss. Me, or that little tin can!” the black dragon hissed.
“Hey, Tails, what sound does an angry dragon make?” Cream asked.
“Bang!” Tails answered, firing another missile. Once again, it hit the mark. The dragon screamed, feeling its left wing being blown clean off. It fell silently into the sea, and nothing moved.

Raze’s hand shook as he looked at what remained of his claws. Three stumps, gleaming silver in the limited light. He looked up, and saw his claws, stuck straight into Arid’s scars. Arid was smiling. He didn’t care. Raze’s stomach lurched. He dashed backwards as quickly as he could. Arid was quicker. The grey fox’s lumbering form lurched forward faster than Raze could ever go. Laughing, Arid smashed his hulking arm into Raze’s face, knocking the fox to the ground. Raze rose slowly, calculating his strategy. To his horror, he found there was none. Arid was far stronger, faster and tougher than him. He didn’t stand a chance. Arid walked slowly to him, extending his claws as he went. Arid’s claws were horribly long and sharp. They dragged along the floor, easily as long as Raze’s arms, gouging grooves in the floor. Then, as quickly as a flash, he struck. He raked those long, menacing claws across Raze’s right eye, retracting the claws as soon as they reached Raze’s nose. Raze clutched his face and howled in agony- not just with the pain of the injury, but the pain of knowing that Arid could have gone further. Arid could have torn his face off, but didn’t. Raze was being toyed with. Arid followed up the slash with a lightning-fast kick fired from muscle-packed legs. Raze spiralled to the floor, his eye weeping tears of blood. His vision started to fade. Fighting the inevitable, he got to his feet. Every movement was agony to him. Arid cackled once more, then picked Raze up by the arm, like a doll. He started to swing Raze against the floor, the ceiling, the walls, pillars, supports, everything. His mind bursting in agony, Raze’s vision finally went black as he saw the building begin to collapse.

It was almost comical in suddenness. One moment, the party was sheering on Tails, Cream and Hadrian, celebrating, and then, with a mighty crash, Twinkle Park ceased to exist. In its place was a pile of rusted scrap. Arid climbed out of the scrap, his massive muscles heaving the metal aside. The party could only watch in horror as they realised that Raze wasn’t getting up as well. Then, with a smile, Arid started to return to is normal form. His arms shrunk, his torso returned to normal. In fact, it was just like watching a balloon deflating. With a mighty ping, Raze’s claws shot out of Arid’s scars, wedging themselves in the nearest wall. Smiling, Arid picked up Raze’s body.
“So, my young Raze. Couldn’t beat me after all, could you? Your own mercy did you in. Still, I’m not going to kill you. After all, I am trying to save our species, and you are an excellent specimen…Perhaps I shall breed you, to create my own loyal angel of death. Of course, you shall have no choice in the matter.” Arid laughed, dropping Raze like a rag doll. Taking the grey Chaos Emerald out of his cloak, he pointed it at Raze. With a sickening squelch, the red Chaos Emerald shot out of Raze’s body.
“Not so fast! Now you have us to deal with.” Shadow threatened, drawing closer.
Arid merely smiled. Out of the several pockets on his cloak came the other five emeralds. They formed a circle around Arid, just as they had done around Sonic and Shadow many times. They bathed the old fox in light, illuminating his whole form.
“Well, then. Try and stop me now!” the old fox cried, shouting his challenge for all to hear. Slowly, he rose into the sky, and began to change.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, slowly, gradually, the old fox’s fur began to change colour- not into the blinding golden tint that Sonic and Shadow were accustomed to, but a deep, sinister black, laced with icy silver flames. The flames dropped like snowflakes, and where they dropped froze like ice. The fur on Arid’s chest started to stand up in thick, rough shocks, and his tail began to spark with flames. He howled his victory, and the whole city began to shake with the sound. Then, he was surrounded by an aura of shadow, darker than his fur, making him look like a mini-black hole. Then, he descended, and addressed the group with a voice like that of a thousand people.
“So…Still think you have the strength to take me on?” he asked quietly, radiating menace.
“Tell me, monster…What will you do with all that power?” Shadow asked, readying the Shadow Rifle.
“Simply put, I will start an ice age. I will level this city as a monument to this ambition. This city’s crater shall be a testament to Arid, Lord of Ice!” the old fox declared.
“Hmph. Raze couldn’t beat a poser like you? What was wrong with him?” Ai asked.
“I know him better than he knows me, is all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a city to destroy.” Arid mocked.
“Wait a second! Why are you going to start an ice age?” Jecht asked. Just a little longer…
“You wouldn’t understand if I told you.” Arid laughed.
“Fire concussion missiles!” came a tinny voice from above them. Tails swooped in, trying to get the best possible angle. Then, he hit the fire button, and prayed. Within a split second, Arid was enveloped in a thick cloud of soot and explosives. Then, Hadrian, finding strength from fear, hurled a giant jet of flame at where Arid had been. It hit perfectly, scorching the earth, and igniting the cloud, making it into a scorching fireball. Everyone held their breath. As the dust cleared, the flames abated, the whole city seemed to tense, waiting for the outcome. From the dust, Arid emerged. He hadn’t even moved. He yawned, then sped towards the plane. He grabbed it by the nose. Fearing the worst, Cream and Tails ejected. Less than a split second later, Arid hurled the Tornado into the nearest building. It nearly disintegrated, parts arcing through the air. Tails gave out a low moan as he saw the plane become no more than a shattered wreck. Arid then sped upwards like a rocket, heading far above the city. Knuckles made to climb up a building, as did Rouge, but Sonic stopped them. He laid a hand on Knuckles’ arm, and shook his head. This was his fight.

Silently, Sonic remembered the love of his life, the one person who he would have died to protect, and had almost died to avenge. He felt the hot tears of anger and misery building up behind his eyes, not allowing himself the liberty of crying. He felt a hot, bitter feeling in his chest, and savoured the sorrow of his loss. His hands began to blaze with white flames, his skin tinge gold with deepest anger, and his eyes dye themselves red with the sadness of a lifetime. In that moment, when the grief and sorrow were too much to take, the world slowed down. He was ready.
His friends tried to stop him, crying their reasons for him not to go. But he couldn’t hear them now. All he could hear was his own power and grief ringing in his ears. He rose slowly, deliberately, shining like a star. It was a deep contrast to Arid’s eclipse of darkness. He rose to meet Arid, glaring at him with all the force of his own lost love. The two faced down, gauging each other.
“Hmph…Sorry to say it, but you might be trouble. I’m not even going to give the courtesy I gave Raze. I‘ll take you out before you get a chance to do any damage.” Arid shouted.
“You…You destroyed my life. You took my one chance at love. You caused my friends so much pain…Now, you are going to pay for it.” Sonic said solemnly.
Sonic calculated his chances. Arid could no longer sap him with the Chaos Emeralds. However, he, Sonic, was at a huge disadvantage, because Arid was invincible and he wasn’t. However, Arid could only remain in Super Form for a short while. Still enough time for Arid to destroy the city, and make a big start on that ice age. But, if Sonic could stop him, at least for a while, then the city would have a chance. The strategy, he decided was not get hit.
“Are you scared, hedgehog. You should be.” Arid laughed, drawing back his arm. He swung his claws, and a streak of energy, like flying paint, flew at the same trajectory. Moving swiftly, aided by his slowed-down perception of time, dodged it, and spun through the air like a Catherine Wheel towards Arid. The old fox moved backwards, quite as fast as Sonic himself, and fired off another blast of energy. it hit Sonic on the shoulder, deflecting off like a rock, causing a spasm of pain to shoot through Sonic’s entire being. Arid fired again, hitting the same spot. And again. And again. He pounded Sonic with attacks, leaving him no time to move. Sonic grimaced. It might be hurting him, but every second Arid wasted blasting him to within an inch of his existence was a second in which he couldn’t destroy the city. One of the blast deflected wildly, spinning off into a nearby building, blowing a huge chunk out of the base. The building toppled, then hurtled towards the ground like a felled tree. It hit another smaller building, flattening it instantly. Sonic heard screams coming from the rubble, then saw his friends running in glorious slow motion to try and rescue the survivors.
“Take this! There will be no room in my perfect world for rodents like you!” Arid shouted, seemingly drunk on the power of the Chaos Emeralds.
“Rodent? Me? Funny, coming from a swine like you…” Sonic spat.
“Haha…You, and your pathetic friends are not fit to inhabit this world, never mind my world. That pathetic hedgehog knight shouldn’t have even had the honour of dying by my claws!” Arid shouted, delirious now.
“Eleanor…No, I can’t let him get me angry so I waste my energy…Wait, that’s it!” Sonic gasped. Quickly, before Arid could gather his wits to fire more energy, he curled up, and tensed his entire body. He felt his spines harden, as he perfectly imitated the technique of his lost love.
“Rrgghhh! You irritating rodent…I’ll blow you out of the sky!” Arid screamed, firing burst after burst of energy at his foe. Sonic shook with the impacts, feeling his hardened spines shudder. Was this how Eleanor had felt before she died? Sonic kept thinking of her face, her smell, her lips. It gave him strength to take the next blast, and courage to not give up. So what if he died? He’d see Elli again…NO. That kind of thinking could get him killed. He readied himself for the next blast. It never came. He slowly uncurled, ready to spring back to his defensive position if attacked, and turned to face Arid. The old fox was returning to his grey coated form, and choking. Of course- they were too far up for the oxygen to support them. Now was his chance. If he didn’t finish it now, he never would.
“Arid. You’ve killed so many people. Now, you’re going down. In the name of Eleanor…RAY OF HOPE!” Sonic cried, rushing forwards with all his might. He focused himself, remembering all the good times, all the bad times with Eleanor and with his friends. He shook with energy, feeling his body change, focus and condense, until he became nothing more than a single ray of light. He shot forwards, heading straight for Arid, for his centre, for those deep, menacing scars on his chest that symbolised him, and-
He went through. Arid span, losing all ability to support himself. The wound was terrible, grievous. But still, Sonic thought as he returned to physical form, I can’t let him fall. I’ll carry him to the ground.
He shot towards Arid, holding the fox’s body in his arms. He slowly descended, looking as his friends cheered. Then as they approached the ground, Arid blinked, and looked at him. And smiled. A pang of fear ricocheted through Sonic as Arid grinned. Then as quick as lightning, Arid struck, plunging his claws deep into Sonic’s spine. Sonic screamed as he felt the claws digging around, searching, until Arid found his mark. Suddenly, Sonic lost all power to move. Arid leant up to his ear, and whispered just loud enough for him to hear.
“Hope? What a laugh. You have no hope. Now, I’ll use your own power to make my getaway. Rest assured, you shall see me again. CHAOS CONTROL!” Arid laughed. Then, with a flash, he was gone, leaving Sonic to slump to the ground.

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That was the end of the last action chapter of Inked in Flame. Coming next: the epilogue!